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Highlights and Milestones: Derek Jeter

The longtime Yankees shortstop is in his 20th and final season. His many milestones and career highlights are compiled here with related video, and articles and photos from the Times archive.

Drafted by the Yankees The Yankees selected Jeter with the sixth overall pick in the amateur baseball draft. He said the odds were 50-50 on attending college or signing with the Yankees. Jeter hit .481 with 23 runs batted in for Kalamazoo Central High School.

The Yankees released a statement about Jeter that simply stated he was the best athlete available. He signed with the club on June 27. Quick Ascent Through the Minors Within two months, Jeter jumped from Class A to Class AAA and is considered a candidate to start for the Yankees the next season, if his fielding is deemed reliable.

When asked what has most impressed him, Stump Merrill, Jeter’s manager at Class AAA Columbus, said, "Everything." When asked what he needed to improve upon, Jeter said, "Everything."

Jack Curry wrote: “He is polite and hesitant to say anything inflammatory, and his upbringing is right out of a Showalter playbook. Jeter's father, Charles, a drug and alcohol counselor, and his mother, an accountant, have lectured him about not being self-centered, and they gave him daily advice when reporters trekked to Columbus last week and focused on him.”

"We want to make sure if he's talking to reporters that he's minding his P's and Q's," Dorothy Jeter said.
Minor Leaguer of the Year Jeter, who had been named Baseball America's minor league player of the year, was named USA Today Baseball Weekly's minor leaguer of the year. Jeter hit .344 with 68 runs batted in and 50 stolen bases for three Yankees farm clubs in 1994.

Runners-up for the award included outfielder Ruben Rivera, who several years later would have his Yankees career end after he was accused of stealing Jeter’s glove, and shortstop Alex Rodriguez, a future friend, rival and teammate of Jeter’s. Major League Debut Jeter, who started at shortstop, was hitless in five at-bats. The Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 8-7, in 12 innings.

Tom Friend wrote: “Derek Jeter, New York's shortstop prodigy who is not yet 21, was imported for his major league debut and had a chance to seize the game with two outs in the 11th inning. But he struck out with pinch-runner Gerald Williams on third. He went 0 for 5, even though his father woke up at 3 o'clock this morning just to get here from Kalamazoo, Mich.”
Firsts Come Fast on Opening Day On the first opening day of his major league career, Jeter hit his first major league home run. It came off 40-year-old Dennis Martinez in his second at-bat. He also made a snazzy stop in the second inning and a snazzier over-the-shoulder grab to end the seventh.

"I don't know what to expect from Derek," Yankees Manager Joe Torre said. "The only thing that I require and hopefully come to expect is that he play solid defense. Because when you're dealing with shortstops that's what you look for, and whatever offense you get."
The Jeffrey Maier Game In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Jeter hit a towering fly ball to right field off Armando Benitez. Tony Tarasco positioned himself for the catch by backing up against the wall. Tarasco waited for the ball to descend into his glove when a young fan, Jeffrey Maier, dipped his glove and scooped the ball over the wall as it glanced off his arm. Umpire Rich Garcia signaled home run and Tarasco and the Orioles fumed.

"Do I feel bad?" Jeter said. "We won the game. Why should I feel bad? Ask them that."

"It was like a magic trick," Tarasco said. "I was getting ready to catch it and suddenly a glove appeared and the ball disappeared. When the kid reached over the wall, the kid's glove was very close to mine. We almost touched gloves."

It was Jeter’s fourth hit of the game. After the Yankees won the series with Baltimore, Jeter had a .415 playoff average over nine games.
First World Series Title Jeter earned his first World Series ring after the Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games. In the series-clinching Game 6, Jeter drove in one of the team’s three runs with a single in the third inning. Rookie of the Year The 22-year-old Jeter garnered all 28 first-place votes in becoming the fifth American Leaguer since the award's inception in 1947 to be a unanimous choice. In 1996, he hit .314 -- the highest among the 10 shortstops voted rookies of the year -- with 10 home runs, 78 runs batted in, 104 runs scored and 22 errors in 157 games. First All-Star Game Jeter is selected as a reserve on the 1998 American League All-Star team, the first of 13 career All-Star selections. Second World Series Title The Yankees swept the San Diego Padres, giving Jeter his second World Series ring. Jeter batted .353 over the four games.

"I'm a little young to know about the teams back in the early 1900s," the 24-year-old Jeter said, ''but we were 125-50, and there's not too many teams that can say that."
Second All-Star Game Jeter entered the All-Star break batting .371 with 14 home runs, 8 triples and 60 runs batted in, earning his second All-Star team selection.

"I don't think you should set any limits on yourself," Jeter said. "You should set your goals high. You can't say you want to hit .300. What if you're doing better? I want to do well every year. I've got a long way to go before I reach my potential."
Third World Series Title The Yankees swept the Atlanta Braves for the team’s, and Jeter’s, third title in four years. Jeter batted .375 over the team’s 12 playoff games. All-Star Game M.V.P. Jeter stroked three hits, knocked in two runs and scored one run to power the American League past the National League, 6-3, and become the first Yankee to win the most valuable player award in the All-Star Game. Manager Joe Torre chose his shortstop as the starter after Alex Rodriguez sustained a concussion, and Jeter poked a two-run single off the Mets' Al Leiter in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie in helping the A.L. win the game for the fourth straight year. World Series M.V.P. With a home run in each of the final two games and a .409 batting average, Jeter was named the most valuable player of the Subway Series against the Mets, the fourth World Series title for the Yankees in five seasons.

"You could've picked a name out of the hat; we have 25 M.V.P.'s," Jeter said. "First game, Vizcaino. What O'Neill's done, our pitching staff, our bullpen, Luis Sojo. You don't rely on one guy."
Cashes In on New Contract Jeter's contract with the Yankees, a 10-year, $189 million deal, produced the second-largest total payout in professional sports; only the $252 million contract signed by Alex Rodriguez with the Texas Rangers the previous December is larger.

"Derek Jeter embodies everything the Yankees are about," George Steinbrenner said in a statement released by the team. "There are some things that cannot be defined by batting average, home runs and runs batted in. They're important, but they cannot totally define a player's worth to a team. And you'd be making a mistake if you think they do. Equally important are an athlete's heart and desire. Derek exemplifies those qualities as well as any player."
The Flip In Game 3 of an American League division series, Jeter made a defensive play in the seventh inning that preserved a 1-0 victory, helping to save the season for the Yankees, as the Athletics had a 2-0 lead in the series.

With Jeremy Giambi at first base, Terrence Long ripped a two-out double into the right-field corner. Giambi was waved home as Shane Spencer, the right fielder, raced into the corner and retrieved the ball. He turned and threw to the infield. But he overthrew both of his relay men, Alfonso Soriano, the second baseman, and Tino Martinez, the first baseman.

Jeter raced across the infield, grabbed the loose ball near the first-base line and, with his momentum taking him away from the plate, turned and flipped the ball to catcher Jorge Posada.

Giambi tried to leap over Posada's tag (instead of sliding), and Kerwin Danley, the plate umpire, called him out.

Giambi said the play showed the "kind of instincts Derek Jeter has on the field, the kind of player he is." He added, "The ball looked like it was rolling away from Posada, so I'm sure it would have been a dead play."
Mr. November On Oct. 31, 2001, in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, Arizona Diamondbacks closer Byung-hyun Kim was one out away from putting his team one victory from a World Series title.

But the Yankees’ Tino Martinez wiped out the Diamondbacks' lead with a two-run home run to center field. With two outs and the bases empty in the next inning, Jeter finished off Kim with a game-winning homer just inside the right-field foul pole shortly after midnight. The dramatic blast and the late hour helped spawn a new nickname for Jeter: Mr. November.
Hosts 'Saturday Night Live' Jeter became the third person associated with the Yankees to host the sketch comedy television program "Saturday Night Live." Billy Martin hosted on May 26, 1986, between managerial stints with the Yankees, and the team’s principal owner, George Steinbrenner, hosted on Oct. 20, 1990. Feud With Steinbrenner In December 2002, Steinbrenner publicly criticized Jeter, saying he lacked focus and was keeping late hours. Jeter's charity work and bachelor lifestyle, the team owner suggested, were detracting from his performance.

"He's the boss and he's entitled to his opinion, right or wrong, but what he said has been turned into me being this big party animal," Jeter told The Associated Press. "He even made a reference to one birthday party. That's been turned into that I'm like Dennis Rodman now. I don't think that's fair. I have no problems with people criticizing how I play. But it bothers me when people question my work ethic. That's when you're talking about my integrity."
First Significant Injury On opening day, Jeter dislocated his left shoulder in a collision at third base with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby. He returned to the field on May 13. It was the first serious injury of Jeter’s career. He would perform at a high level for the rest of the season, scoring 87 runs and batting .324. The Captain Steinbrenner made official what was already assumed in the team’s clubhouse: that Jeter was the captain of the Yankees.

"I think he can hopefully pull them together," Steinbrenner said. "I think he can give them a little spark. I just feel it's the right time to do it. People may say, 'What a time to pick.' Well, why not? He represents all that is good about a leader. I'm a great believer in history, and I look at all the other leaders down through Yankee history, and Jeter is right there with them."
Rodriguez Joins Yankees Alex Rodriguez, one of the most productive players in baseball and once a close friend of Jeter’s, was traded to the Yankees from the Texas Rangers.

Their friendship reportedly took a turn when Rodriguez said some unflattering things about Jeter three years before in an article in Esquire magazine. Jeter was irritated when Rodriguez told Esquire that when preparing for the Yankees, Jeter was "never your concern." The implication was that Jeter was benefiting from being in a better situation with the mighty Yankees and that he was not as talented as Rodriguez.

Afterward, Jeter was said to retreat. Their friendship cooled. The passage of time and Rodriguez's explanation of how a few critical comments should not undermine dozens of laudatory remarks he had made about Jeter over the years reduced the tension.

As part of the deal, Rodriguez agreed to move from shortstop to third base so that Jeter could stay at short. The Dive Jeter’s defensive play in the 12th inning kept the score tied, 4-4, in a memorable game with the Boston Red Sox that the Yankees won in 13 innings.

Trot Nixon hit a pop-up to the left side of the field, and no fielder besides Jeter was close to it. From his position at shortstop, Jeter raced to his right. With two outs and a runner at third, a hit would have given the Red Sox the lead. But Jeter sprinted and swiped the ball from the air in fair territory. Unable to stop his momentum, he tumbled into the seats, spikes high, several rows back.

"Greatest catch I've ever seen," Rodriguez said. "It was unbelievable. He's just so unselfish. He put his body in a compromising spot. It was hard to watch."

Rodriguez followed Jeter in and waved for help. As a trainer went onto the field, Jeter emerged from among the fans and stood above them for a moment as he climbed a wall to get back on the field. Jeter sustained a laceration of his chin that required stitches, a bruised right cheek and a bruised right shoulder. First Gold Glove Jeter won his first Gold Glove award, for the shortstop position, as voted on by American League managers and coaches. Rodriguez had won the last two, but Rodriguez moved to third base when he joined the Yankees. Opening Day Heroics On opening day at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees trailed the Royals, 7- 6, with two out and two on in the bottom of the eighth. Jeter got into a first-pitch, split-finger fastball from Kansas City reliever Ambiorix Burgos, pulling it into the left-field seats and lifting the team to a victory.

"I've watched this kid for 11 years," Joe Torre said. "It seems when something needs to happen, he's at the start of it or the finish of it."
Falls Short of M.V.P. Award In 2006, Jeter hit .343 with 97 runs batted in and had a .417 on-base percentage, his highest totals since 1999. He was also a steady force in a Yankees lineup ravaged by injuries, and he won a Gold Glove at shortstop. Jeter was a leading candidate to win the American League M.V.P. award but lost out to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins.

“You’ve heard me say it a thousand times, but winning the World Series for the New York Yankees continues to be my main focus,” Jeter said. “There is no individual award that can compare with a championship trophy, and I look forward to working towards that challenge again in 2007.”
Yankee Stadium Farewell After the final game at the old Yankee Stadium, Jeter addressed the 54,610 fans in attendance.

“And we are relying on you to take the memories from this stadium, add them to the new memories to come at the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation,” Jeter told the crowd.

Harvey Araton wrote: “He is the quiet captain, aloof even, some have argued, but everything he said Sunday night was pitched perfectly, and not just on the field. Before the game, he was asked what made Yankee Stadium so different. The lights, for one thing, he said. They always seemed brighter than elsewhere. He said he imagined actors feeling likewise playing Broadway.”
Captain of Team USA Jeter was the captain of the United States team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

“As a young player in New York, you try to emulate certain guys,” the team’s third baseman, David Wright, said. “I’m excited to have a locker next to him and play next to him. Obviously, he’s a class act. I’m interested to get in his head a little bit. This is a huge learning experience.”
Most Hits for a Shortstop Jeter’s first two hits against the Seattle Mariners tied and broke the record for career hits by a shortstop, held by the Hall of Fame player Luis Aparicio, who had 2,673 while playing the position.

“I just try to be consistent year in and year out, and if you’re consistent, good things happen,” Jeter said, when asked about his record. “But that’s kind of hard to believe, to say the least.”
Most Hits for a Yankee Jeter added another important milestone, passing Lou Gehrig on the Yankees’ career hits list with his 2,722nd.

“I never imagined, I never dreamt of this,” Jeter said. “Your dream was always to play for the team. Once you get here, you just want to stay and try to be consistent. So this really wasn’t a part of it. The whole experience has been overwhelming.”

George Vecsey wrote: "Jeter has accomplished this feat in his prime, not backing into it, some grand old man playing a few days a week, designated hitter, backup first baseman, the stuff of old age, way down the pike. He breaks the record lean and spry and relatively healthy, although how would anybody know? Joe Torre — Mr. Torre — would ask how he felt, and Jeter would say, 'I’m fine.' Tells that to the trainers, too.”
Wins Fifth World Series The Yankees captured their first title since 2000, defeating the defending champion, the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3, in Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.

“We play the game the right way,” Jeter said. “And we deserve to be standing here.”
New Contract After Turbulent Negotiations A protracted stalemate with the Yankees ended when Jeter agreed to a three-year, $51 million deal.

The negotiations were not smooth, and Jeter expressed anger afterward about how the organization handled them, particularly the Yankees’ suggestion, through the news media, that he explore free agency if he was not satisfied with their offer.

“To hear the organization tell me to go shop it when I just told you I wasn’t going to — if I’m going to be honest with you, I was angry about it,” Jeter said.

He added: “It was an uncomfortable position that I felt I was in. It was not an enjoyable experience.”
3,000th Hit Jeter slammed a home run in the third inning for his 3,000th hit, and capped a five-hit day with the go-ahead single in the eighth inning of a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

“It was relief,” Jeter said of his emotions. “I was excited but, to be honest with you, I was just pretty relieved.”

Tyler Kepner wrote: "However the rest of his career plays out, Jeter — whose 5-for-5 day raised his career average by a point, to .313 — will be known most for relentless consistency, for churning out hits at a rate few have matched. Jeter has 10 seasons with at least 190 hits. Only Rose and Cobb, who rank first and second on the career list, have more such seasons."
Fractures Ankle in A.L.C.S. In Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, Jeter broke his left ankle diving for a ground ball in the 12th inning. He missed the rest of the postseason, and the Yankees lost the series.

“The fact that he was hurt is one thing, and also the fact that he knows that he can’t be there for them to play,” Torre, the former Yankees manager, said. “It sounds hokey, but it’s true. He’s indestructible. It’s one of those things; you never even question whether he stumbles and falls if he’s going to play.”

During the regular season, Jeter led the major leagues in hits, with 216, while batting .316.
A Brief Return to Action After eight months, Jeter returned from ankle surgery, and beat out an infield single in his first at-bat. He also scored a run as the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-4.

But Jeter endured another setback. He felt tightness in his right quadriceps while grounding out to second in his next-to-last at-bat of the day and was later removed from the game. The injury kept him off the field until July 28.
A Home Run in His Return Jeter returned after a 17-day absence with a quadriceps strain, on top of missing the first 91 games recovering from his fractured ankle, and hit a home run on the first pitch thrown to him.

“He’s a movie,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “You think about his 3,000th hit, how he did that. We haven’t hit a home run since the All-Star break. We haven’t had a right-handed home run in months. For him to come out and do that his first swing, he’s a movie.”
Jeter’s Season Ends Jeter was placed on the 15-day disabled, and his season, General Manager Brian Cashman said, was over regardless of whether the Yankees made the postseason.

“The entire year has pretty much been a nightmare physically,” Jeter said. “So I guess it’s fitting that it ends like this, huh?"

“I truly believe with a full off-season of working out and getting my strength back that I’ll get back to doing what I’ve always done,” he added.
Announces His Retirement Jeter, entering his 20th season with the Yankees, announced that 2014 would be his final year of professional baseball.

“I’ve experienced so many defining moments in my career,” Jeter said. “Winning the World Series as a rookie shortstop, being named the Yankees’ captain, closing the old and opening the new Yankee Stadium. Through it all, I’ve never stopped chasing the next one. I want to finally stop the chase and take in the world.”

George Vecsey wrote: “Jeter has done something more than help win seven pennants and five World Series. He helped turn the Yankees into a team that Mets fans, Red Sox fans, can respect (at least some of them; there are always hardheads). He and his contemporaries — Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, as well as Joe Torre (whom Jeter calls Mr. T) and Joe Girardi — took some of the starch and bluster and gloom and doom out of the old Yankee ways.”
Final Home Opener Yankees fans in the Bronx were given their first chance to salute Jeter during the team's 2014 home opener. Jeter contributed a double to the Yankees' 4-2 victory.

Before the game, Jeter's former teammates Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada joined him for the ceremonial first pitch. Ties Aparicio With 2,583 Games at Shortstop With the Yankees facing the Chicago White Sox, Jeter was in the lineup for his 2,583rd game at shortstop, putting him in a tie for second among all shortstops with Luis Aparicio, a White Sox great who was an integral part of their 1959 pennant-winning team. Only Omar Vizquel has played more games (2,709) at the position.

“Aparicio!” Jeter said after the game, a 6-5 Yankees loss. “Everyone knows how great he is. I guess it’s ironic that we’re here. It’s hard to believe when you think about the history of the game and there is only one guy who has played more games." Milestone of a Different Kind: Turns 40 Jeter turned 40 years old, and his gift was a day off on the schedule, as the Yankees were off.

“It’s like any other birthday; I don’t pay much attention to numbers,” Jeter said the night before, when the Yankees broke a four-game losing streak by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3. “My mind-set is to treat it no differently than any other age. Once you start sitting around thinking about getting older, you cause yourself some problems.” Plays in Final All-Star Game Derek Jeter led off the All-Star Game with a double that sparked a three-run inning as the American League topped the National League and gained home-field advantage for the World Series. Derek Jeter Day The Yankees held a ceremony to honor Jeter, their shortstop, before allowing two unearned runs, recording only four hits and losing to Kansas City.

The Yankees removed the Royals’ flag — and the flag of every other major league team — from atop Yankee Stadium, ringing their imperial palace with Jeter flags. His No. 2 flapped overhead while adorning the Yankees’ sleeves and caps down below, as it will for the rest of the season. Final Game at Yankee Stadium He almost started crying as he drove himself to Yankee Stadium in the afternoon. He had to turn away from his teammates before the game when they presented him with gifts, so overcome was he by the emotion. In the first inning, he said, he barely knew what was happening, and later, in the top of the ninth, his eyes welled with tears to the point that he worried that he might break down in front of the crowd of 48,613.
But when the time came for Derek Jeter to get a game-winning hit, to add another signature moment to a long list of achievements over his 20-year career, he knew exactly what to do, and seemingly no one doubted that he would.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Jeter stroked the winning hit and ended his Yankee Stadium career the way he had ended so many games — with both arms raised in celebration. The 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles was his 1,627th regular-season victory as a Yankee. Plays in Final Game Derek Jeter played his last game Sunday, ending his career with a play typical of his time in the majors, in which he hustled out an infield single for his 3,465th hit.
As Jeter stood at first base, in the top of the third inning against Boston, Manager Joe Girardi made a slashing motion at his throat, asking with the hand signal if that was it for Jeter. Jeter nodded.
The fans had been standing from the moment he had come to the plate, but the cheering and the “Derek Jeter” chants grew louder. Jeter handed his arm and foot pads to the first-base coach, Mick Kelleher, and patted him on the helmet. He waited for Brian McCann, the pinch-runner, to arrive and gave him a heartfelt hug. Then he jogged across the diamond, stopping to shake hands with Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox’ starting pitcher, and hugged each of his teammates before he sat down in the dugout.
His 20-year career was over.